I just joined that club this morning. Someone loosened my lugs last night in my driveway, [that has a story behind it] I'm guessing all 8, on the driver side rear. I was in my Ace Electric work van, driving to my job today, doing about 45 on a rural main road. I had been driving for about 45 minutes when it came off. There was a guy right behind me who saw the whole thing, he pulled over behind me to make sure I was OK, which I was.

Amazingly, the tire projectile came close to, but totally missed 3 possible targets, a mailbox and 2 lights mounted on top of stone bases, flanking this person's long driveway. It was a small horse farm. It hit their wood fence but it did no damage, a tree might have slowed it down. I didn't see the whole thing, I just caught it out of the corner of my eye. I was busy trying to control my vehicle and get it off the road. For myself, it was one hell of a feeling to have a heavily loaded van lose a back wheel at 45 mph. I had to compensate immediately by turning hard right to keep it from flipping, but I managed to get it off the road and onto the shoulder driving on my hub. Wow, what a feeling. It could have been disastrous had there been oncoming traffic. Amazingly, the only damage was to my vehicle.

It was pretty intense, but it doesn't compare to the time I completely lost steering on my van while doing about 50 on a highway. That was truly terrifying. But that's another story for another day.

Something similar happened to me when I was younger. My family and I were on vacation, 7 of us, travelling 90kph on country roads in a brand new 1967 Volkswagen Beetle with a roofrack. The car had just been to the dealer for its 1000km checkup. 30 minutes into the highway and the roofrack flew off. Three hours into the 5 hour trip the rear right tire fell off. Thank heavens our driver uncle stayed calm and got us safely to stop, the tire didn't hit anyone/anything, and nothing on the car was damaged. We were only able to retrieve 4 of the 5 wheel bolts, but and we reached our destination. The day before we left for home, one of the tailpipes was missing, either falling off without us knowing or getting stolen. We got home from that vacation safe and sound though.That Beetle stayed with us for 20 more rather uneventful years before we sold it.

I've never lost a wheel but I certainly have skidded on black ice doing 65 before. I'd been driving about eight months and must have been mostly out of control for 250 yards. I held it straight (just) and managed to slow the car down enough to pull up six or seven yards behind a car at the back of some slow moving traffic - which is why I braked in the first place.

I only had the panic about five minutes later.

Unsatisfied customer Larry? You live in the land of litigation. Sue! For 'mental anguish' or somesuch. Glad you're ok mate.

I had something like that happen once, Larry. About 14 years ago, I was driving on I-25 in Denver at night. I was doing about 65 and something just shot across the road and hit my rear tire and it just blew up. I really don't know how I stopped, but I did. I got out to look at it with cars whizzing by at 65 and it was just shredded. To this day, I have no idea what it was. I thought I saw something streak across the lane, but I have no clue what it could have been. A cop pulled up behind me and kept his lights on until I could change the tire.

Something similar happened to me when I was younger. My family and I were on vacation, 7 of us, travelling 90kph on country roads in a brand new 1967 Volkswagen Beetle with a roofrack. The car had just been to the dealer for its 1000km checkup. 30 minutes into the highway and the roofrack flew off. Three hours into the 5 hour trip the rear right tire fell off. Thank heavens our driver uncle stayed calm and got us safely to stop, the tire didn't hit anyone/anything, and nothing on the car was damaged. We were only able to retrieve 4 of the 5 wheel bolts, but and we reached our destination. The day before we left for home, one of the tailpipes was missing, either falling off without us knowing or getting stolen. We got home from that vacation safe and sound though.That Beetle stayed with us for 20 more rather uneventful years before we sold it.

7 people in a 1967 Volkswagon Beetle? That I would love to see! Like that circus act with the clowns piling in the small car!

No unsatisfied customers Dunc, perish the thought...The back story is...My wife was pressured by the Feds to testify against her former boss/boyfriend, who was preparing fraudulent income tax returns. This was right before I met her. In 2008, he went to jail for 4 years as a result of her testimony. Well, he got out last year. Since then funny things have been happening to us. We think this is his doing ultimately. To put a finer point on it, we think he is hiring someone to screw with us, because he's the type who won't get his hands dirty. He's in his 50's now. Hard to get someone striking from the shadow's.

Yes! The fact that you managed to wrestle the vehicle to a stop is irrelevant. Someone tried to kill you, & that should be taken very seriously by the authorities. Furthermore, you should at least have this recorded so that you have historical evidence should there be further attempts on your life!

Even worse, you could potentially have been carrying a Guru kit. Now that is a heinous crime transcending all others!!!!!! GBH (Guru bodily harm), he should go down for that. Does this ex boss piece of dirt have children? Have them presented with a free set of bagpipes ;)

Yes! The fact that you managed to wrestle the vehicle to a stop is irrelevant. Someone tried to kill you, & that should be taken very seriously by the authorities. Furthermore, you should at least have this recorded so that you have historical evidence should there be further attempts on your life!

Even worse, you could potentially have been carrying a Guru kit. Now that is a heinous crime transcending all others!!!!!! GBH (Guru bodily harm), he should go down for that. Does this ex boss piece of dirt have children? Have them presented with a free set of bagpipes ;)

Yes! The fact that you managed to wrestle the vehicle to a stop is irrelevant. Someone tried to kill you, & that should be taken very seriously by the authorities. Furthermore, you should at least have this recorded so that you have historical evidence should there be further attempts on your life!

Even worse, you could potentially have been carrying a Guru kit. Now that is a heinous crime transcending all others!!!!!! GBH (Guru bodily harm), he should go down for that. Does this ex boss piece of dirt have children? Have them presented with a free set of bagpipes ;)

Or give them some drums that you no longer need! That'll serve him right!

That was certainly attempted homicide in the first degree,since it was premeditated and reckless endangerment.Both are unfortuneately tough to prove without forensic evidence or a witness.

I got blown off the road on route 80 west, comming back from Penn State one night.It was snowing and very windy.I actually slid sideways down a steep enbankment,but was able to keep the truck from flipping.I wound up at the edge of the east bound roadway,facing the wrong direction.

The wind that blows through those Kittatinny mountains is literally a killer.

And I noticed as soon as I left my house, after I got going about 35 that the road sounded louder than usual. I thought, is this just me, or is the road rough there? Then I turned on the radio and that was it. I can't believe I never felt a wobble. Never a dull moment with my wife lol.

Larry, I'm glad you're okay. I would definitely file a police report. As someone pointed out, just to have it on record. If this guy is causing problems, it's good to have a trail of "unexplained" phenomena that can be cited should the need arise.

This almost happened to me this morning. I swapped the spiked snow tires/wheels for the standard tires/wheels in my garage on our two cars yesterday and I neglected to fully tighten one of the rear wheels. I was making a funny noise in traffic and I immediately knew what was wrong and stopped to re-tighten before any damage. Scary, but at least I didn't deal with the terror of a wheel coming off.

My friend's wife came home after having a tire blowout while she was driving. She was fine and there was no damage to the car, but she was understandably shaken up a bit. She talked about how it was like driving on three wheels when the tire blew.

My buddy made a joke about how she basically drives on three wheels all the time anyway (a quip about what a bad driver she was).

She, uh, did not find it funny. I left shortly thereafter and was really glad I wasn't him :)

Sounds freaking creepy. A couple of months ago, when my mom was driving our 2008 Volvo V70, the brake servo (is that the correct english term?) stopped working. Basically, no matter how hard she kicked the brake pedal, the car barely slowed down. Luckily, this happened while driving at a slow speed, and the brakes were only incapacitated for 30 seconds or so. But isn't that a weird thing to happen to a five year old quality car?

One time I lost my steering in my (at the time) 1999 Ford E150 while yielding onto a highway from a cloverleaf type situation. I lost steering right where the cloverleaf met the highway. Yea it takes at least a second and a half of turning your wheel in like 10 full circles before it occurs to you that you have no directional control lol. I sailed across 3 lanes of rush hour traffic, mercifully missing speeding cars by inches, and brought the car to a stop in a fairly wide grass median. I'm glad there was no guardrail there as I would have been royally hosed. I crawled under my van, and saw a 3 foot long rod was dangling down from one end. I saw where the other end was supposed to go, stuck it in the hole, and put a screw and a nut through a cotter pin hole, and bent the screw so the nut couldn't come off. I drove away like 5 minutes later. That was the most terrifying 4 seconds I ever had, much scarier than losing the wheel. I can't believe I was able to fix it that fast. Ford Trucks have not changed this design since the 70's, the same thing happened to my Dad with his F150 in the 70's.

Park inside a garage if you have one. You can try locking lug nuts like you use for high priced custom wheels they have to be loosened with a special lug wrench. Or a big mean Gaurd dog

One car garage, 3 vehicles, tight squeeze. I do have locking lug nuts because they are custom wheels. The locking lug nuts will vibrate off if the other 7 lugs are loosened or removed. Plus they can be taken off with vice grips if you're really determined. A guard dog, I really don't like living with dogs, they smell and I can't deal with dogs barking and can't be present for each and every bowel movement or squirt break. Maybe car alarms with sensitive vibration sensors that make a lot of noise. Stealthy cameras, but I need to run electric down to the edge of my driveway, PITA but necessary. More lighting, it is dark here.

Even worse, you could potentially have been carrying a Guru kit. Now that is a heinous crime transcending all others!!!!!! GBH (Guru bodily harm), he should go down for that.

Humor at time like this??!!??!! You're just a ...... funny guy. Good one!

Larry, sorry I'm late to read this but I'm glad you're ok. We need you around! I'd suggest a private investigator if you really think someone is after you. My brother has been one for 20 years. Too bad you're not closer. Be careful out there. I better get that book to you sooner than later :)

Hey all I wanted to update this thread because I came across a pretty simple and effective solution, not just for me, but to anyone who wants to protect anything that sits outside at night like cars, boats, whatever.

I was relating this whole sabotage story to my local electrical counter guy just today. So he says, "You know what you do?" Use battery powered baby monitors.

I thought that was friggin brilliant.

I could secure them to the undersides of my vehicle somehow, hidden, turn them on at night, and have the receiver on my nightstand. If I hear suspicious sounds, I could be there in seconds and catch the worm in the act. It would wake me up for sure. I should easily be able to tell if it's human or wildlife by the sound. I live on a cul de sac, so it's very quiet.

I'm a little mad at myself for not thinking of it, but what a great solution, right?

Thanks Larry. I never screwed anyone, I don't roll like that. No one is out to get me personally, but there is someone who wants to make my wife's life miserable. Which includes me by default.

Hopefully he shot himself in the foot, because as stated earlier, this guy used to prepare tax returns. Well someone filed a return for my wife's 18 YO son who just died in January from a Christmas morning car wreck. This guy had ALL that information about my stepson, he's the only one who could have done it, or paid someone to do it for him after providing the information. The Feds do not look kindly on someone preparing fraudulent tax returns, and also screwing with a government witness (which would mean my wife). So he is under heavy suspicion right now. How that will pan out....we are hoping this guy puts himself back in jail for filing the fraudulent return for a dead 18 YO kid. He had to time it just right too, the filing of the tax return. Just after he died, but before the government updated the records.

Baby monitors will be a great thing as far as me knowing what's going on in my driveway.

Thanks Larry. I never screwed anyone, I don't roll like that. No one is out to get me personally, but there is someone who wants to make my wife's life miserable. Which includes me by default.

Hopefully he shot himself in the foot, because as stated earlier, this guy used to prepare tax returns. Well someone filed a return for my wife's 18 YO son who just died in January from a Christmas morning car wreck. This guy had ALL that information about my stepson, he's the only one who could have done it, or paid someone to do it for him after providing the information. The Feds do not look kindly on someone preparing fraudulent tax returns, and also screwing with a government witness (which would mean my wife). So he is under heavy suspicion right now. How that will pan out....we are hoping this guy puts himself back in jail for filing the fraudulent return for a dead 18 YO kid. He had to time it just right too, the filing of the tax return. Just after he died, but before the government updated the records.

Baby monitors will be a great thing as far as me knowing what's going on in my driveway.

Crap like this is what people write books about Larry... Yow.....

Let me tell you, we just retired our Fisher Price Baby Monitors after an obscene amount of use of 4.5 years. Amazing items!!!!!

If putting a proper security camera at the driveway is not possible how about a game camera. They take a picture when a built in motion sensor detects something moving. They are completely self contained. Hunters use them to keep an eye on the game animals when they aren't on the property. You will want one with an IR flash and some have movie capability if you desire that. They will run a around $100 US on up. I think between the baby monitors and a game camera for evidence of wrong doing you could make a case pretty easily if someone were to try something again.

Apparently, you just aren't professional enough to drive on three wheels: (Skip to 0:17)

I just joined that club this morning. Someone loosened my lugs last night in my driveway,...

Sweet freaking Jesus, what a story! I’m so glad you’re okay!

I like the ideas about cameras and audio monitors and motion detectors and stuff. You can also get fake cameras, so if you put a few up in places where they’re easy to spot, it should be a deterrent. But I guess it makes a difference whether you’re trying to prevent more assholism or record proof of it.